


Beloved Companion

by Kerensa



Category: Demon Under Glass (2002), The Sentinel
Genre: AU, Crossover Pairings, Heavy Angst, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-06-15
Updated: 2016-06-15
Packaged: 2018-07-15 04:59:53
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,428
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7208759
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Kerensa/pseuds/Kerensa
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Blair makes a mistake over his "fake" name the first time he and Jim meet, or is it? AU, Sentinel/DUG crossover, Non-J/B</p>
            </blockquote>





	Beloved Companion

Beloved Companion

By Kerensa 

Warnings: This is **NOT** a Jim/Blair pairing. Sorry. It is pre-slash for Blair and another man. No one said it had to be Jim and Blair’s first time. [grin] _Publisher's Note: We thought it was implied. [grin]_

~~~ 

“You’re nametag says McCoy,” Ellison told him with a frown. 

“Uh.” Blair glanced down and saw his mistake. His mind whirled at a thousand miles an hour. “…The correct Gaelic pronunciation is McKay,” he said glibly. 

‘Man, I can’t believe I screwed up like that,’ Blair chastised himself later. ‘Little mistakes like that can be costly.’ 

Blair glanced around his storage room/makeshift office, thinking back to the day before when he’d burst in on Detective Ellison at the hospital. He knew the situation was precarious and that he couldn’t afford any more missteps. Ellison was a sharp detective, in addition to a being a burgeoning Sentinel, so Blair would have to be extra careful around the man. Jim would be able to spot a lie, even a little, white one, from a mile away. And the big, huge black one that comprised Blair’s life… 

He stood and stretched, letting out a pained groan. Blair rubbed a bandaged hand over one hip and shook his head ruefully. The hip sported a nasty bruise the size of a dinner plate, courtesy of a marauding garbage truck and a zoned Sentinel. His hand was scraped and sore from punching out Veronica Saris, aka, the Switchman. 

‘I hope this isn’t the way it’ll be every week,’ Sandburg moaned to himself. ‘Otherwise, I won’t live very long.’ 

With that thought, Blair flinched and looked around quickly, as if he expected an intruder to attack him from behind one of the shelves. The TA rolled his eyes at his own theatrics. It’s not like he couldn’t see all around the small room; there was literally nowhere to hide. 

Powering down the school computer and his own laptop, the grad student gave a quick glance out the window and decided that if he hurried, he could get back to the warehouse that he called home before it got dark. Before dark was especially important, because if he couldn’t make it in time, Blair would spend the night in his home away from home, the office, rather than risk it. 

Walking at a brisk limp, Blair reached his Corvair, parked over in the far parking lot, in less than five minutes. It took him another 30 minutes to reach home, via a stop at his favorite deli for a ham and cheese sandwich. He hurried inside the building and locked the door behind him. Only then did Blair breathe a sigh of relief. 

“Made it another day,” he breathed out solemnly and knocked on a wooden table. Blair was a firm believer in superstitions. Why wouldn’t be, because let’s face it, he’d just found a Sentinel, something he’d been searching for since he was a kid, and he had a monster chasing him. 

Life really couldn’t get much more fairytale-like than that. 

==== 

Ellison leaned forward in his truck seat and frowned. Why in the hell had Sandburg all but run into his place like the hounds of hell were after him? 

Glancing around the extremely dangerous neighborhood answered the detective’s own question. Jim knew that if he lived around here, and not a chance in hell of that ever happening, he’d probably hurry to and from his…dwelling too. 

‘Not that going into that death trap was much safer,’ he thought to himself, eyeing the dilapidated warehouse distastefully. He twitched on the leather seat. He felt antsy, like he should be protecting the younger man; something he hadn’t felt since he and Steven were both kids, before their father ruined that relationship. 

The sound of the truck engine starting was unnaturally loud in the surprisingly quiet street. If anyone had been paying attention, they would have been surprised, no, astonished, at seeing such a clean, well maintained vehicle in that area. If they had been looking. Naturally, given the location and its inhabitants, most people that lived and worked in the neighborhood knew better than to be aware of what was going on around them; they tended to live longer that way. 

Ellison drove home, his instinct to follow the younger man fulfilled, at least for tonight. Jim had a bad feeling that this impulse was only going to get stronger the longer he knew Blair. 

“Another reason to get these damned senses under control that much faster,” he reasoned. 

Jim drove home, getting inside the loft just before sunset. 

==== 

The man with the long dark hair and intense eyes took up watch over the warehouse, just after it got dark. He stared at the dim light that flickered through the dirty warehouse windows. 

The vibes floating off of him were intense enough that people did notice him. And then they quickly fled the other way. There was no one, not even the most vicious gang member on the block, who was notorious for having murdered his mother and grandmother for double-crossing him, wanted to tangle with the guy in the black leather jacket. 

Simon Molinar sniffed the air delicately, smelling things no other human could, except possibly a Sentinel. He knew, for example, that Blair was alone in that unimposing edifice, not counting the four legged creatures. 

‘So no threat to my claim,’ the older man realized with a nod. 

He gave the neighborhood a steady, intense going over. It was rough, but he’d known worse in his days. More importantly, Simon knew that Joe, no, Blair now, had lived in more dangerous places and come through unscathed. 

“I can wait,” the man stated quietly. His voice was low and soft with a mixture of accents, mostly European. “You are safe for now, Joseph. I will let you be.” 

With a turn that was so sudden to be a blur, Simon headed away from the warehouse that Blair called home. A wind picked up and blew Molinar’s hair back from his face, his tear-stained and remorseful face. 

==== 

Blair snuggled down into the couch and tried not to cough. He didn’t even want to breathe, afraid that it would bother Jim and he’d end up out on the street. Him and Larry, the Barbary ape, that is. 

Rationally, Blair knew that Ellison probably wouldn’t toss him out this late at night, but the difference between probably and certainty was too much to risk. Sandburg was already on borrowed time and had to find a new place to live in less than a week. 

The brilliant young man’s brain raced with the possibilities, even as he tried to get some rest. Larry always seemed to know when Blair was agitated and that set the little primate off, more often than not. Here, in Jim’s loft, sleeping on his sofa in the living room, Blair couldn’t turn the television on and let Larry watch his favorite movie until the small animal calmed back down. 

‘I could stay with Ed and Louisa,’ Blair thought. A frown crossed his expressive face. ‘No, they just had the baby, I couldn’t intrude on them.’ 

One by one, Blair went through his extensive list of friends and acquaintances. Almost as quickly he realized that, for one reason or another, he wouldn’t be able to crash at their places any time soon. 

‘Damn!’ Blair thought in frustration. He heard Larry twitching in his cage and Jim shifting on his bed upstairs. Evidently, the Sentinel could pick up on Blair’s anxiety too. 

Blair took a slow, deliberate breath, in through his nose, and let it out, just as slowly, through his mouth. He continued this technique for some minutes, in his best meditation mindset, and it worked. 

The grad student could tell that Larry had settled down and there were no more noises from Jim’s room, so he could relax. Just as sleep was finally nibbling at the edges of his brain, Blair decided to do a Scarlet O’Hara, and think about it tomorrow. 

==== 

Jim stared out of the balcony windows. His stance, just to the right of the open curtains, but slightly behind them, showed how ‘on alert’ he was. 

Bracket might be gone, but he’d realized Ellison’s secret and the ex-soldier figured that it was only a matter of time before others did as well. It also irked the fastidious man that the rogue ex-CIA agent had been in his home. 

The Sentinel, with the supportive presence of Blair there to help him, had searched the loft from top to bottom, from side to side, and every inch in between. To their amazement, the only places where Bracket’s presence had been found were the spots that Ellison saw him. The man had been ‘considerate’ enough to sit in only one spot in Jim’s living room, after he’d picked the lock and broken in, of course. 

It certainly could have been worse. The rogue man probably had time to rifle through anything and everything he wanted to in the loft. 

Ellison was glad that he hadn’t gotten upstairs to Jim’s bedroom, or the day’s events would probably have gone differently. If Bracket had found the stash of Blair’s things that Jim had in the back of his closet, he would have realized just how important Blair was to him. Any threats to the younger man’s safety would have had Jim helping, no matter what the cost. 

Not that Jim was ever going to let Blair, I date a different woman every week, Sandburg know about that. No, Ellison valued their friendship too much for that. 

A disturbance in the air behind him alerted Jim to Blair’s presence first. Then, of course, he could smell the younger man, his distinctive shampoo and conditioner, preceding him like an aura. 

The Sentinel would have sensed his friend sooner, if he hadn’t been directing his attention away from the loft. Jim had checked his perimeter just a few minutes earlier and knew that all was safe. 

“Do you think he’s really gone?” The worry in Blair’s voice was both a balm and upsetting at the same time. 

“Yeah, Chief.” Jim turned away from the windows and gave his friend a reassuring smile. “I think he is.” 

“Good.” Blair sighed, his shoulders slumping in relief. The smile he gave Ellison was still hesitant, but tentatively hopeful. 

“Let’s eat, I’m starved.” 

Ellison slung a friendly arm around Blair’s shoulder and led him into the kitchen. Things would get back to normal now. Or at least, as normal as things could get, considering their roller coaster lives. 

==== 

Lee Bracket kept his eyes closed, even after he regained consciousness. The ex-operative knew it was safer to play possum and get the lay of the land. Whoever had captured him had done it without a struggle; without the highly trained man even knowing someone else was around, and that took a lot of skill. 

Bracket took a personal assessment of himself and figured out a few things. One, his hands were securely bound, in front of himself, so that might be helpful. Two, ditto on his feet. Three, he was lying on the hard, cold ground and something sharp was digging into the middle of his back. 

“You can stop pretending. I know that you are awake.” 

A shoe nudged him in the side, none too gently. Since he’d obviously been found out, Bracket opened his eyes and looked up, straight into a pair of blue eyes. 

“Who are you?” Bracket asked. 

He gave his captor the once over and was disgusted by what he saw. The man was thin, almost emaciated looking. This was the person who had gotten the drop on him? 

“I hardly think that matters right now.” The other man crossed black, leather-clad arms and leaned negligently against the side of a tree. “This isn’t a movie or television show, after all. I’m not going to confess my plans to satisfy your curiosity.” 

Bracket straightened his back in indignation. It irked him to know that that’s exactly what he’d done with Ellison and Sandburg. 

‘And look where that got me,’ Lee realized. ‘Maybe I should have kept my mouth shut.’ 

“Suffice it to say that you threatened something dear to me.” 

The man on the ground snorted. “Don’t worry. The e-bola wasn’t ever released.” 

The dark haired man straightened, his eyebrows rising high on his forehead. “E-bola?” he intoned inquiringly. Bracket realized that his big mouth had just gotten him into even more trouble. “I see.” 

In the blink of an eye, the man was kneeling at Bracket’s side. The ex-CIA man gasped at the suddenness of it. He hadn’t even seen the other man move. 

“That is a very painful illness, so I’ve been told.” He ran a cold, very cold, hand down the side of Lee’s face. “I’ll have to make sure the punishment fits the crime.” 

The touch of the other man made Bracket shiver, and not just from the cold emanating off of him. No, he was dangerous, in a way that frightened even someone as morally bankrupt as Lee Bracket. He flinched at the touch, but found he couldn’t move away. 

“If it’s not the danger to you or the city, then what is upsetting you?” He was trying to stall, hoping, he didn’t know what for. No one knew where he was and even the few that might, wouldn’t put themselves in the line of fire to save the likes of him. 

“My companion. My beloved. My Joe.” 

With each label, Bracket cringed even more, realizing how much this Joe meant to the other man. Then he felt a little hope enter his heart. 

“I don’t know any Joe,” Lee told him, shaking his head in denial. 

His captor leaned closer. “You know him as Blair.” 

Hope flew away like a bit of dandelion fluff on the wind. Bracket knew an aggressor when he saw one, even without the added evidence of his kidnapping to cement the impression. 

Bracket opened his mouth to do something, anything, to get himself out of this mess. He was a master manipulator and negotiator, so surely he could outtalk this guy. 

Lee never got the chance to speak, because when he looked up, he was looking into the face of darkness. His captor’s eyes were glowing with an unearthly light and made Bracket gasp in fear. It was a fear that he hadn’t felt since he was a little child, afraid of the monster in his closet and too young to know better. 

Except, perhaps he didn’t know differently, because the man had opened his mouth wide and a set of bright, white fangs were glinting in the moonlight. 

Bracket was in shock and couldn’t move. He tried to deny what he was seeing with a desperate shake of his head. The monster just smiled. And then pounced. 

Lee screamed as the knife-like teeth sunk into the side of his neck. Deeper they went, seemingly all the way to his spine. Even then, the nightmare was only beginning. The teeth slid out, hurting almost as much coming out as they had going in. 

The rogue spy pushed out with his hands, trying to dislodge the man from his throat when he started sucking on Bracket’s neck. Nothing worked. In fact, any movement by Lee seemed to spur the creature on. 

On and on the suction at his neck went, like the worst possible hickey ever, only a thousand times worse than that. Bracket gasped as he felt his heart flutter in his chest. He didn’t know if it was the overwhelming fear or the blood loss making his heart skip beats. 

After what felt like an eternity, but was really only a few minutes, Bracket realized that everything was fading away. He welcomed the darkness, in a way. At least, it would be an end to the pain. But then, a new feeling began to worm its way back; he realized the darkness was receding, and again he felt a sliver of hope. 

Lee opened his eyes slowly. They felt like cold molasses, thick and heavy, had been poured onto his eyelids, making it nearly impossible to open them. But open them he did. 

The vampire smiled down at him from where he loomed over the supine man. Bright red blood gleamed garishly in the moonlight. It covered almost the entire bottom half of the creature’s face. Seeing the evidence of its ‘feeding’ smeared there made Bracket sick to his stomach. 

“Remember what I said? I don’t want this to be over too quickly.” 

He struck again. Bracket wanted to scream, as he felt yet another bite in his neck, but he was too weak. Somehow, the ex-operative knew that his death, while inevitable, would be a long time in coming. 

==== 

Blair slowly trudged up the stairs. He didn’t really want to be going “home”, but Blair had run out of things to do at the university. The only other option Blair had was to go to the station, and that was even worse than the loft. 

So, here he was, going back to a place that he didn’t even consider as his home any more; not after Jim efficiently packed up his things and tossed him out. Out of his home and out of Jim’s life. After all that they had been through over the years, Blair would have thought that he deserved a little more consideration than that, Sentinel instincts be damned. But no, take one anally retentive Sentinel, throw in another, psychotic, criminal—naturally—Sentinel, and the Guide was tossed out the window. Or rather, drowned in the university fountain. 

‘Stop feeling sorry for yourself, you idiot,’ Blair groused to himself. ‘Jim has always acted this way, so why was this time any worse?’ 

Because this time Blair had died. Then, worst of all, he had to watch Jim making out with his murderer…twice. 

‘I’m letting it go.’ Blair hoped that if he repeated the mantra to himself enough times, like, say, a million or so, then he would finally believe it. 

Standing in front of the loft door, Blair took a deep breath to fortify himself. Normally, he would have been self conscious, knowing that Jim was probably listening to him, but lately the Sentinel had been ignoring him more than anything. So, Blair reasoned that he was safe from the constant scrutiny that had comprised his life for the last several years. 

“Hey, guys,” Blair called out in greeting, as he breezed in, knowing that several of their friends from Major Crimes were here for the weekly poker game. 

Sandburg was so intent on pretending that nothing was wrong that he was halfway to his room when it dawned on him that there hadn’t been an answering greeting. His sixth sense, honed from years of running, kicked in and had him spinning around. 

He was right, the gang was sitting at the dining room table. But instead of playing poker, the cards were dropped on the floor, and in some places, scattered around the room. It was easy to see that there had been a fight, a big one. The result was that all of those big, trained cops were sitting, gagged, and tied to their chairs. 

Blair gasped and started towards them, his eyes riveted on Jim’s. In the back of his mind, the anthropologist wondered why none of them were saying anything. It wasn’t as if they were unconscious. No, everyone, from Simon to Rafe, were looking at him with wide, frantic eyes. 

Feeling a cold chill on the back of his neck, Blair turned slowly, afraid of what he’d find. Images of Lash, Bracket and Alex Barnes flashed through his mind, not to mention all of the thugs he’d helped Jim put away over the years. Even knowing that someone was going to be there when he turned around didn’t help the shock that hit when he saw who was standing there. 

“Simon!” 

Blair stumbled back a step. His heart paused for a moment and then slammed into overdrive to compensate. 

“Joe,” the other man said softly. 

“How did you get in?” That seemed the most important question at the moment. After all of Blair’s watchfulness, the vampire had managed to find a way into the loft. 

“I knocked. They must have been expecting more for the game, because several people told me to come in. How could I resist such a request?” 

Simon smiled and spread his arms out to the side. Blair had to smile in return. No matter how afraid he was of what Simon was and, most importantly, what he represented, Blair still remembered him as the man that Joe McKay had befriended. 

“How did you find me?” Blair asked. 

“My darling, Joseph, I never lost you.” 

Blair blanched. All these years he’d thought he was safe. 

“But…” 

“I have to admit,” Simon interrupted, “that it was hard keeping hidden when you were living in that awful warehouse.” 

Sandburg slumped against the wall, staring at the floor, his face a mask of resignation. He glanced over at the table, straight into Jim’s eyes. The Sentinel was looking back and forth between him and Simon and looked confused. Blair realized that Simon had been using the name Joe. Even if they survived this night, Blair would have a lot of explaining to do. 

The almost Lucy reference nearly sent Blair into hysterical laughter. A cool hand on his cheek stopped it though. 

The vampire turned Blair’s face back so that he was looking up in to blue eyes that were amazingly similar in color to Jim’s. Blair filed that bit of information away for future reference, wondering if it were coincidence or something more important. 

“This doesn’t have to be done fully,” Simon whispered. 

He leaned forward and brushed his lips against Blair’s ear. The younger man gasped at the sensation. It had been far too long since he’d felt any sense of closeness. Way too long since someone touched him in a loving way. 

“What do you mean?” Blair was all too aware of how breathless his voice was. 

“I could do what I did in Phoenix,” the vampire offered. 

~~~~ 

Blair’s mind went back. Not long after he’d run away from his former life, leaving Dr. Joe McKay behind, he’d been hit by a car while holing up in Phoenix. His injuries hadn’t been life-threatening, but they were severe and would have kept him in the hospital, or a rehab facility, for several months. 

Simon had found him somehow and snuck into Blair’s hospital room in the middle of the night. The injured man had only been slightly coherent, but he’d been aware enough to be frightened. 

“I won’t hurt you,” the older man had promised. 

To his immense surprise, Simon hadn’t turned him into a vampire. Instead, the vampire had fed him some of is own blood. Blair had been appalled when he realized that the thick, red fluid flowing down his throat was blood. He’d been even more upset when he realized just how good it tasted. 

Simon had been true to his word; he’d left shortly afterwards. By the next morning, Blair had taken a turn for the better. By the end of the week, he was back at the small apartment he’d rented. The doctors were amazed and assumed that there was a mistake and Blair hadn’t been injured as badly as they originally thought. 

~~~~ 

“Surely you’ve noticed the other benefits from that night.” 

Blair heard Jim’s muffled complaining at that statement. The Guide realized that to someone not in the know, it sounded like he and Simon had spent the night together. They hadn’t, but of course, Ellison had jumped to that conclusion. 

“Yeah, I’ve noticed.” 

As Joe McKay, he’d been a doctor in his mid-30’s. After ingesting the vampire’s blood, he’d looked like someone in their early-20’s, at the oldest. It had been easy to pretend that he was years younger when he started his new life. The truth was that Joseph Blair McKay was about 45, and several years older than Jim, or even Simon. The police captain, Simon, that is. 

The vampire’s cure had de-aged Blair and it was only in the last few months that he’d really noticing that he was starting to age again. Simon was offering him immortality, without the burden of being a vampire, at least for now. 

Blair looked up at the vampire and licked his dry lips. Simon watched the nervous motion impassively, willing to give Blair as much time as he needed to think. 

The observer glanced over to the table. _That_ Simon was giving the vampire dirty looks. The rest of the guys wavered between looking worried and scared, for their own safety, as well as Blair’s fate. On the far side of the table, Blair could see that Jim was working his hands back and forth, trying to loosen his bonds. The Guide knew that if he realized what Jim was doing, then the vampire could certainly tell. He had to figure out something quick! 

“I could still die,” he reminded Molinar quietly. “In an accident, or something like that.” 

The effect was instantaneous. Simon let go of Blair abruptly and pushed off the wall. 

“You already died,” he snarled. “That one,” he pointed a shaking hand at Jim, “let you die!” 

Simon launched himself across the room. Molinar moved so fast that he seemed to fly. The vampire grabbed Jim by the front of his shirt and hauled him up, chair and all. Ellison stared in stunned surprise at the man with fangs that was holding him aloft like he was a tissue. 

“Don’t!” Blair yelled desperately. 

“He’s the reason I almost lost you,” Simon ground out. 

Blair shrugged. “No, he’s really not. The person who was is now in a mental institution, her mind fried.” Blair watched as Simon thought that over. “Please don’t hurt him, them,” he added quickly. “Please don’t hurt them.” 

Simon dropped Jim’s chair back to the ground. He didn’t actually drop the Sentinel, but it was close. 

“I almost lost you, my beloved companion.” 

Blair lost his breath in a whoosh. Of all the names he’d been given over the years, that was, by far, the most loving. Jim’s ‘Chief’ had lost its special feeling around the time that Ellison called a criminal by the same nickname. After that, it was just like ‘Hairboy’; just another way to keep Blair from getting too close. 

“He didn’t protect you. I will cherish you. Never again will there be a Lash or a Kincaid, intent on harming you.” 

Blair’s eyes widened and he gave a brief thought, wondering exactly what Simon had done to protect him. Inside, he began to waver. It was hard to resist such blatant love and caring, especially after Jim’s increasing coldness. Somehow, deep in his heart, Blair knew that Simon would _never_ have tried to have sex with Alex, senses or no senses. 

“What if I don’t ever want to make the complete change?” Blair asked, carefully not looking at his friends. This was between him and Simon, no one else. 

“Then that’s how it would be,” the man declared, his accent deepening with emotion. “You would only ever change if that’s what you choose, Joe.” 

Simon reached out a hand to caress the side of Blair’s neck. His long fingers feathered down to rest on Blair’s collar bone. Simon leaned forward, going slow and giving Blair time to protest, but the anthropologist had no desire to stop him. Their lips met, and while the coolness of his touch was a shock at first, the passion behind it burned through the cold. 

Far off, Blair could hear Jim’s chair bouncing as he protested. Blair didn’t know if it was the chance that his Guide was leaving that Ellison was upset over, or the kiss. Whatever, Blair decided that it was a case of too little, too late. 

Blair’s lips felt bereft when Molinar leaned back. The two of them gazed at one another for a few seconds. Blair realized that the last several months had been leading to this moment. 

“Okay,” he whispered. 

Molinar closed his eyes for a moment. When he opened them, Blair saw tears in their blue depths. Simon opened his mouth and Blair watched as his fangs dropped down. The vampire used the razor sharp edge of one glistening, white tooth to slice open his own bottom lip. Blair took a deep breath and leaned in for the kiss. He carefully sucked on the taller man’s lip, drawing the other’s blood into his mouth. With one swallow there was no turning back. 

The taste and feel were just as exhilarating as Blair remembered. He could feel the warmth, and wasn’t that ironic, spreading through his body. Blair moaned at the almost orgasmic feeling and let Simon hold him, keeping him from collapsing to the ground. 

~~~~ 

Blair looked at his belongings. It was rather pathetic, really, how few things he wanted to take with him. Knowing that they’d be on the run, quite probably from an angry Sentinel, had him minimizing even that amount. 

The Guide didn’t want to think about the possibility that Jim might not follow, that he might not care. Blair had been hurt too much by the Sentinel’s seeming indifference to allow himself to think like that right now. 

“I’m ready, I guess.” He knew that he didn’t sound very self assured, but Simon smiled at him anyway. “Just a minute,” Blair said. 

He walked back into the dinning room. Jim just looked at him. There were tears in his eyes though, and that made Blair feel sad and a little better at the same time. At least he knew that Jim would miss him a little. 

The anthropologist knew that Ellison had some idea of what had gone on. After all, he’d seen Simon’s fangs and would have smelled the blood from when Blair ate. Still, the shock of how Blair looked could be seen in Jim’s eyes. 

Blair looked several years younger than he did the first time Ellison saw him. His hair was fuller once more and the little laugh lines at the corners of his eyes had disappeared, leaving his skin smooth and fresh. Blair didn’t know, not being blessed with enhanced hearing, but the damage to his lungs that went along with being drowned had disappeared as well. 

“I’m leaving now,” Blair explained. Jim shook his head frantically, but stopped when Blair placed a hand on either side of his head. “Yes, it’s time.” 

He turned and faced the other men at the table. Blair had considered them friends at one time or another. Looking back, he wasn’t as certain that they had considered him friends too, but Blair wasn’t going to second guess himself, not at this late date. 

“Take care of yourselves, guys. It’s a dangerous world out there.” 

Blair leaned over and gave Jim a brief kiss on the cheek. “Live happy, man. Please don’t close yourself off.” 

With that, Blair walked over to Simon and took his hand. Simon walked them both to the balcony doors and opened them. 

Sandburg gave a worried glance back. “Don’t worry. Someone is on their way up on the elevator right now,” Simon reassured him. “A latecomer to the game, I suppose. He will release them from their bonds.” 

Blair sighed in relief. He’d been worried about there being a fire and Jim and the others being trapped. Now he could relax. 

Wrapping a leather clad arm around Blair’s waist, Simon commanded, “Hold on, the world awaits.” 

“The world?” Blair’s eyebrow raised in surprise. 

“Yes,” Simon said with a smile. “Egypt is lovely this time of year.” 

The anthropologist in him sang at that. “Egypt?!” 

Simon nodded and they jumped out of the window. Naturally, his vampiric strength made the three story landing feel like a feather touching down. Blair’s eyes widened dramatically. It had all happened so fast that he hadn’t had time to be afraid. Looking up at the loft’s window, Blair smiled. 

“Wow. Now, that was fun!” 

“I’m glad you enjoyed it.” Molinar smiled back. Stepping over to a sleek, black, but non-descript car, Simon gestured for Blair to get in. “We’d better hurry.” 

“Yes, we had.” 

With one final look back, they sped away. And yes, Jim followed soon behind. 

The End. 

Acknowledgments: Thank you to Bobbie for the beta and to Nicci Mac for the wonderful cover. 


End file.
